Stefanos Tsitsipas and his father Apostolos Tsitsipas have had a tumultuous coaching relationship over the years.
Stefanos’ father has been a present figure throughout his professional tennis career, but there have been times apart between the two.
This latest of those happened in August 2024, before Stefanos would have a short stint with Goran Ivanisevic on his team.
After Stefanos and Ivanisevic split following just two months together, Apostolos would return to his team, but they may be about to have some time apart again.
Stefanos Tsitsipas admits it is ‘not easy’ to travel with his father all year
Tsitsipas is a former Roland Garros finalist, but the 27-year-old arrives at this year’s tournament in a very different position as the world number 82 following recent struggles for form.
Ahead of this year’s tournament, Tsitsipas spoke to Greek outlet Sdna about many things, including his current coaching situation.
As well as having his father on his team, Tsitsipas also has the presence of Kerei Abakar and Dimitris Hatzinikolaou.
In this interview, Tsitsipas suggested that he is likely to have a break from his father due to the intense nature of the tour, but both Abakar and Hatzinikolaou will fill his role during that time.
Give us your one wild prediction for Roland Garros!
“Kerry [Abakar] is always with me, but Dimitris is also on my team,” said Tsitsipas. “There may be some break from my father, because I will need it at some point. It’s not easy to travel with one person all year round. It wouldn’t be bad to have a break sometimes.
“I don’t see it being bad if I want Dimitris to cover for my father for a week or two, for my father to take a day off too! Because he’s also from one plane to the next and from one city to the next.
“My father isn’t getting any younger, he’s now at a much older age than he was six or seven years ago when we started. So he also wants to adjust his schedule a little.
“I know he really wants to help me and I know he wants to give his best as my coach, but if we mix it with Dimitris and if Kerry can, because he’s the one in charge of the academy, then we can have this nice team.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas says if he was aware of the social media boycott
This was not the only thing that Tsitsipas was asked about, as he was also questioned on one of the big topics at this year’s Roland Garros of the current media boycott.
Players including Jannik Sinner, Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff have all agreed to speak to media for just 15 minutes in a protest against the current share of Grand Slam revenue players receive in prize money.
When asked if he was involved in this protest, Tsitsipas claimed that he had only just been made aware of the news.
“I didn’t even know about it until ten minutes ago when they told me,” responded Tsitsipas. “Because I’m not on social media and I don’t look, I had no idea.
“They mentioned it to me when I was giving an interview, I didn’t know anything. It’s their decision. They explained it to me a little while ago, they can do whatever they want. I do what I want and what I believe is right for me.
“Everyone has freedom and their own opinion, they make their own choice. I don’t deal with that. I just want to play good tennis, that’s what interests me.”
Will players regret their decision to walk out of press conferences at Roland Garros?
Tensions are high in Paris!
As Tsitsipas looks to keep his attention firmly on the tennis, he will build ahead to his first round match against Alexandre Muller.
The Greek is likely to be feeling confident ahead of this match, as Tsitsipas has won all three of his previous matches against the Frenchman.
